The Final Episode of Mark Twains The Adventures of...

The Great Importance of the Final Episode of Huckleberry Finn One of the things many critics of Huckleberry Finn just cant seem to understand is the final episode of the novel where Tom returns and sidetracks Huck from his rescue of Jim through a long series of silly, boyish plans based on ideas Tom has picked up from Romantic novels, such as those of Walter Scott. Critic Stephen Railton dismisses these final chapters as just another version of their Royal Nonesuch (405); referring, of course, to the silly play put on by the Duke and Dauphin in chapter 23. From one point of view, this whole evasion sequence seems funny and humorous in the traditions of frontier and southwestern†¦show more content†¦For one, Stephen Railton says Jims role is haplessly comic (401). Several critics argue that Jim fits into the stereotypical figure of the black-face minstrel shows popular at the time (Carey-Webb 24) (an accusation with profound repercussions, to be addressed shortly). And remember how most of Twains books until this one, such as The Innocents Abroad and Roughing It , were comic travel books. And it also seems likely that Twain is satirizing Romanticism (another possible idea to be addressed later). However, despite the humor (or maybe because of it), the book remains very serious. As V. S. Pritchett puts it, The curious thing about Huckleberry Finn is that, although it is one of the funniest books in all literature and really astonishing in the variety of its farce and character, we are even more moved than we are amused by it (307). Pritchett goes on to say, The value of a native humor like Twains is that it expresses a profound reality in human nature: the ability of man to adjust himself to circumstance and to live somehow (307). There is truth in comedy. Comedians can tell us brutal realities that dramatist cannot. As Pritchett explains later, The subject of Huckleberry Finn is the comical but also brutal effect of an anarchic rebellion against civilization and especiallyShow MoreRelatedMark Twain s The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn2015 Words   |  9 Pagesfamous author Mark Twain, less commonly known as Samuel Clemens, produced The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. A few years prior to the publishing of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain released possibly his most famous book, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which is very much an adventure novel. In the early chapters of Twain’s sequel, it appears that ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬ The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is another adventure novel, and that it is just following a different character from Twain’s earlier worldRead More The Immature Huck Finn in Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn1723 Words   |  7 PagesThe Immature Huckleberry Finn      Ã‚  Ã‚   Maturity is not a fickle expression such as happiness or frustration, but rather an inherent quality one gains over time, such as courage or integrity. Before maturity can be expressed, the one who expresses it must have significant confidence in himself, since self-confidence is the root of maturity. Being flexible and formulating ones own opinions or ideas are aspects of maturity, but neither is possible without self-confidence. The greatest aspect ofRead More Jim Essay2872 Words   |  12 PagesCicero Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered to be possibly the Great American Novel by many scholars and is certainly the best known of Mark Twain’s works. These scholars both powerfully praise and powerfully depreciate Twain’s artistic judgment in relation to Huck’s character, themes, and political statements, but Jim’s place is often ignored or overlooked. Jim’s character is very important in his roles in supporting Huck as a father figure, his example for Twain’s portrayalRead MoreHuckleberry Finn2439 Words   |  10 Pages The novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written by Mark Twain and published on December 10, 1884. This picaresque novel takes place in the mid-1800s in St. Petersburg,  Missouri and various locations along the Mississippi River through Arkansas as the story continues. The main character is young delinquent boy named Huckleberry Finn. He doesn’t have a mother and his father is a drunk who is very rarely involved with Huck’s life. Huck is currently living with Widow Douglas and Miss WatsonRead MoreThe Antebellum Period : A Great Deal Of Fodder For Social Criticism1536 Words   |  7 Pages The antebellum period, in which The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is set, provided a great deal of fodder for social criticism for many authors during and after the period. During the antebellum period, the institution of slavery was maintained with increasing hostility in the American South, where legislators and civilians alike worried about abolition and its potential ramifications. Ever since its foundation, Southern society had been dependent upon slavery as the bedrock for its economy andRead MoreEssay on Critical Analysis of Huckleberry Finn5056 Words   |  21 PagesCritical Analysis of Huckleberry Finn In outlawing reading for motive, moral, and plot, the notice proleptically--if unsuccessfully--attempts to ward off what in fact has become an unquestioned assumption behind most interpretations of Huckleberry Finn, namely, the premise that the text affords a critique of its extraliterary context by inveighing against the inequities of racism. In Mark Twain: The Fate of Humor James M. Cox analyzes why such readings of the novelRead MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagesfive-stage structure is repeated in many of the individual chapters, while the novel as a whole builds on a series of increasing conflicts and crises. Such a structure is found both in such classics of fiction as Flaubert’s â€Å"Madame Bovary† and in the adventure thrillers of Alistar MacLean. EXPOSITION: The exposition is the beginning section in which the author provides the necessary background information, sets the scene, establishes the situation, and dates the action. It may also introduce the charactersRead MoreInterpretation of the Text13649 Words   |  55 Pagesof words: a world of forms, images, and sounds that are all designed to work together. This does not mean that works of literature have nothing to do with reality. On the contrary, Walt Whitmans poems often address the reader directly; Mark Twains Huckleberry Finn has everything to do with the history of American slavery; and when Emily Dickinson writes, 1 never hear the word escape Without a quicker †¢blood, she is surely expressing her ovm feelings. The world of literature is watered by manyRead MoreLangston Hughes Research Paper25309 Words   |  102 Pagesbookish smell, the long, polished tables, and helpful librarians. Curiosity about the story inside a books attractive cover encouraged him to read at an early age. Langston loved to hold a book and examine the artists illustrations. Through adventures in books, he escaped his lonely, restricted life. Because the school for black children in Topeka was across town, Carrie enrolled Langston in first grade at the all-white Harrison Street School, which was within walking distance of their apartmentRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pagesdate for the film â€Å"Grown Ups 2,† in which a frightened deer urinates on Adam Sandler’s face. In the animal’s defense, one could argue that it were merely taking movie criticism to a higher and more clarifying level. A â€Å"brief† is a directive. That final comment about the deer taking movie criticism to a higher and more clarifying level was a humorous remark, not meant to be taken literally. The implicit conclusion is that the noble purpose of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was